Two weeks ago marked the 24th anniversary for The SRI Conference on Sustainable, Responsible, Impact Investing (formerly SRI in the Rockies), held this year at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado. As stated on the conference website, it is “the premier annual gathering of investors and investment professionals working to make money and direct the flow of investment capital toward a truly sustainable future.”

“This year was the second most attended SRI Conference in its history, perhaps in part due to the focus on fossil fuel and climate change issues,” reflected Judith L. Seid, Founder of Blue Summit Wealth Management.

In fact eight separate breakout sessions and one main plenary session focused on the investment risks associated with increasing regulation over the fossil fuel sector, as well as the ensuing opportunities in the alternative energy sector.*

Although activist investors have been pressuring oil companies to clean up their act for decades, many SRI specialists believe that we are nearing a tipping point. In May this year, First Affirmative Financial Network published the results of their Fossil Fuel Divestment Survey, concluding that 63 percent of SRI professionals expect climate-prompted fossil fuel divestment in the next 10 years.

Over half of sustainable, responsible, impact (SRI) investment industry professionals say that retail investors (65 percent) and institutional investors (53 percent) are currently expressing interest in fossil fuel-free portfolios in the face of growing signs of climate change, according to the Fossil Fuel Divestment Survey.

More recently, as published on Bloomberg.com two weeks ago, a group of over 70 investors representing over $3 trillion in collective assets launched a coordinated effort meant to spur 45 of the world’s top oil and gas, coal and electric power companies to assess the financial risks that climate change poses to their business plan. The investors are asking these companies to examine and disclose their “exposure to the risks associated with current and probable future policies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.”

“Pioneers in this industry have been at this for a long time and it’s great to see some headway,” remarked Shane Yonston, Managing Partner at Blue Summit. “The question now becomes: ‘which industries and companies will replace the fossil fuel-based market and where do I best position my portfolio?’”

With a 20-year history focusing on SRI, Blue Summit published a brief guide titled Fight Climate Change with Your Portfolio,in which they review the Fossil Fuel Free movement, driven largely by 350.org, which has become the fastest growing divestment campaign in history. The guide also features San Diego’s own 350.org volunteer group, along with their current efforts to persuade CalPERS and CalSTRS to divest from fossil fuels. In addition, four practical steps are offered for any investor who wants to have their money working for cleaner air:

1) Choose Investments Fighting Climate Change: Depending on what investments you hold, there may exist similar investment vehicles that consider the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria of any portfolio holdings. Feel free to contact us to discuss investment options if you need assistance.

2) Engage as a Shareholder:Check out this link to Green America’s guide on voting your proxies and,if you’ve owned $2,000 worth of a stock for more than a year, you’re eligible to file a resolution. If you’re interested in this option but have never filed a resolution before then we suggest you co-file along with a group of other shareholders who have experience. You can find the deadlines for filing resolutions for the company you’re interested in on the “Edgar” site of the SEC’s website.

4) Pressure Fund Companies to Act: As a way to pitch into this effort, Blue Summit is not only sending out this article to thousands of people nation-wide, but we’re also advocating for all of our clients and community of supporters to sign onto this 350.org, Fossil Fuel Free campaign. The petition calls for three of the country’s largest mutual fund companies, representing billions of dollars worth of shares owned by retail investors, to offer broad-based equity funds that minimize climate risk by excluding the 200 largest fossil fuel companies, and to make those funds widely available to ordinary investors.

Offered by Blue Summit Wealth Management, one of the nation’s most trusted financial services firms specializing in sustainable and socially responsible investing since 1994.

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